Things Happen For A Reason Ch. 06

Luke wondered if Sarah was being clever by referring to Riley in the present tense, or did she truly not know that he'd died? Shaking his head, he reminded, "And Bree-Anne?"

The look of disgust turned into one of almost hatred. "Bree-Anne, my so-called best friend? She seemed to be so sympathetic after everything that happened and you left. I thought she was the one person I could count on. She even said Riley was a bastard and encouraged me to get a restraining order when he kept harassing me. I was such a fool.

"She convinced me it would do me good to get out—it was right after you left me, before I knew I was even pregnant. Even though I didn't want to, I finally agreed to meet her for dinner at one of our old hangouts. I excused myself to go to the restroom and when I came back, I saw that she was talking to one of our other friends. They didn't see me approach and I overheard Bree-Anne telling Lynn what a pathetic creature I was. She laughed about Riley's infatuation with me and said that it was no surprise because I'd been leading him on for months. Then she said it was a shame I'd gotten caught and run you off because she was pretty sure she had just about worn you down and gotten you in the sack too. They had another good laugh at my expense, and I let it be known I'd heard the whole thing before I left. I haven't seen or talked to the bitch since."

Luke had to admit she was being consistent with her story. Still, he felt the need to ask pointedly, "And you're sure you only slept with Riley once? It didn't happen again?"

"What?" Sarah looked at him, obviously not pleased by the question. "What has that creep been saying, Luke? Of course it only happened once. It only happened once, and that was one time too many. You don't seriously believe that whatever he's told you is the truth, do you?"

Luke only shrugged. "What do you think he's told me?" he asked and waited for her reaction.

"You know what," she said after a second's silence. "Nothing I do or say can prove to you I'm telling the truth. Either you believe me or you don't. If you don't, that's fine. I'll have to accept it and live with it. But I will not keep paying for a stupid mistake I made once three years ago."

She made to leave, and Luke realized she meant it. That went a long way in convincing him maybe she was telling the truth. "Sarah, wait. I have remembered some things."

She stopped and turned to look at him. The expression on her face was part shock, part hope, and part worry. "You have?"

He reached for the classifieds and passed them to her, pointing out the ad circled in red. All of the color drained from her face, then she turned a becoming shade of red, as if she were almost embarrassed by it. "You saw this?"

"Back after the new year," he said. "I was in Louisiana. I picked up the paper and couldn't believe it when I saw that. I knew it was from you."

Sarah nodded, then walked back over to the sofa and sank down on it. She lifted a hand to her mouth, and he realized she was fighting a wave of emotion. "I ran this ad for almost two years. I can't believe – I mean, I didn't know how else to reach you. You needed to know about Jack, you see. There were weeks when I thought about canceling the ad, but I didn't. I couldn't. And you saw it? Wow."

*** Sarah had been sitting in the doctor's office eight months into her pregnancy when she'd spotted someone in her small town reading the Atlanta newspaper. The perfect idea had hit her then! Luke and his newspaper fetish. She'd been on a tight budget, but she'd been desperate and had justified the extra expense of running a small classified ad. Every month she'd considered canceling it, figuring it was useless. And every month, she'd refused to give up hope.

She felt Luke sink onto the sofa cushion beside her, and then he placed an arm around her for comfort, to ease the shock of this discovery. Softly, he explained, "I was still wary about coming back, but after I saw that ad, I had to. That's why I took a job here. I think when the accident happened, I was trying to find you. Didn't I write you at the P.O. Box?"

Still shaky with emotion, Sarah shook her head. "I check that P.O. Box every week. All I've gotten have been letters from horny guys looking for a good time."

Luke frowned, looking thoughtful. He was probably wondering the same thing she was. Why hadn't he written her? "What else have you remembered?" she asked.

His frown turned into a sort-of smile. "Not much. Bits and pieces of our wedding. Did we go on a vacation to the Bahamas at some point?" When she nodded, he added, "Yeah, I remember some of that too. Not much else though."

"But it's a start," she pointed out and impulsively reached to kiss him on the cheek. He sighed and then blurted out, "Riley is dead."

Her first thought – as crazy as it was – was that Luke had killed him. That he'd gotten so angry after coming here, he'd beaten the other man to a pulp. She just blinked and repeated, "Dead?"

Luke nodded. "Apparently not long after I first left you a few years ago. I wanted to go to the library and look up his obit to be certain of the details, but from what I understand it was an accident."

"But...that doesn't make sense," she frowned. "He just sent me a package. I know, because I recognized the handwriting."

"None of this makes much sense," he admitted. He rubbed a hand over his face, rubbed his eyes and said, "I think, maybe, that Riley did something to convince me the two of you were having an ongoing affair. I suspect that Bree-Anne might know more about it than either of us realizes. At this point, she's our only hope of getting some answers, but she married some rich guy and I have no idea how to find her."

Sarah listened to Luke's theory and had to admit it made sense. "You might not have any ideas how to find her, but I do."

It was quite simple, really, Sarah thought later as they stopped to grab some dinner before returning to Luke's place. She pulled out the notes she'd written down at the library. All they'd had to do was use an internet terminal to access the engagement and wedding announcements in the newspaper's archives. She'd known Bree-Anne well enough to know the woman would want to advertise the fact that she'd finally landed a big one. And she had. The wedding write-up had even detailed the groom's employment information as well as Bree-Anne's so-called contributions to area charities. That had earned a snicker from Sarah. Bree-Anne didn't have a charitable bone in her lithe little body. Armed with a name to reference, it was easy enough to find Bree-Anne's new home address and phone number listed in a search engine.

They'd also looked up Riley's obit, and Sarah hadn't been quite certain whether she believed he was truly dead until she'd read it there in black and white. Oddly, she'd just felt sort of numb then.

"So, Sherlock, do we go visit Bree-Anne when we leave here, or do you have another plan up your sleeve?" Luke asked once their waiter had delivered their food.

She glanced at Luke and caught the smile he sent her way. He was clearly impressed that she'd tracked down the other woman so easily, and even if he still had doubts about her, Sarah figured he'd shoved them to the back of his mind, for now.

"Actually, I need to call and check on Jack," she said with a sigh. "Do you mind if we pay Bree-Anne a visit tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we need to check on the kid," he agreed. "Might be nice just to kick back and relax for the night before the big confrontation."

She wondered if all he wanted to do was kick back and relax. Would they even be sharing a bed? For all she knew, he expected her to get a hotel room for the night. They hadn't really talked about it; she'd just assumed she'd be welcome to stay with him. Maybe she'd assumed too much, especially if he was having doubts again.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Shaking herself, she forced a smile and answered, "Nothing. Just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Yeah, well, I hate to say this, but don't expect to get much tonight either." Her surprise must have shown on her face because he suddenly laughed and added, "Get your mind out of the gutter, lady. I meant because my bed isn't all that comfortable in the apartment. That reminds me, how did you manage to pay my rent these past few months?"

She felt herself turn a little red as she admitted, "Actually, I had a little savings." Savings she'd planned to use to repair the must-be-fixed in her house before winter came around again. When she'd come up short for his rent last month, she'd borrowed from her parents, who'd said it was for a worthy cause anyway. She'd figured the least she could do for her husband was make sure his stuff was preserved until he could get back to it.

When they got back to the apartment, they watched a DVD and then decided to turn in early. Sarah wasn't sure if Luke wanted to make love or not, but she changed into her best nightgown anyway. Her insecurities fled when Luke saw her in it. The look in his eyes was all too familiar and made her smile a little.

When he went to kiss her, she went into his arms with a sigh. "Luke?"

"Mmm?"

"Will you just hold me tonight?"

"Hold you?" He pulled back to look at her carefully. "You don't want to--?"

"I do," she assured him. "But I'm really tired, and I'm really worried. I'd just like to be held right now. Is that OK?"

"Sure."

He stripped down to his boxers and let her get settled in. She patted the mattress beside her, and he crawled into bed. She sighed when his arms slid around her from behind, keeping her close and making her feel protected again. She began to think about all they'd discovered today. She thought about Riley and his wasted life. She thought about Jack and how much she missed him. She thought about Luke and how strong he was to be handling everything so well. When he regained his memories, he would probably leave her. She knew she would feel that loss for the rest of her life.

The first tear spilled over and she wiped it impatiently away. "You OK?" Luke asked softly in the darkness.

The tears were falling too fast to catch now, and she laughed at herself. "I don't even know what I'm crying for."

"It doesn't matter. Let it out." She turned over and buried her face in his shoulder. He put his arms around her and held her while she wept, just like he always had.

And they both wondered what would happen tomorrow as they allowed exhaustion to claim them for the night.